Age models for the Cape Blanc Debris Flow and the Mauritania Slide Complex in the Atlantic Ocean off NW Africa

Age models for the emplacement time of mass flow deposits from the Cape Blanc Debris Flow, the Mauritania Slide Complex and a levee of the Mauritania Canyon were obtained by offshore X-ray fluorescence (XRF) element stratigraphy on five gravity cores, allowing the assessment of slope instability in this part of the NW African continental margin with respect to climate-related sea-level variations during the Quaternary. The Cape Blanc Debris Flow emplaced approximately 155 kyr ago whereas deposition of the Mauritania Slide Complex is linked to the rapid sea-level rise at the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary. Turbidites on a levee of the Mauritania Canyon close to the Mauritania Slide Complex occurred at stage boundaries. These findings agree with other studies which show that the NW African continental margin has been unstable over the last Quaternary cycles, and that downslope sediment transport is frequently coupled to periods of climatic changes at stage boundaries. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.